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dash

Pronunciation: (dash),[key]—v.t.1. to strike or smash violently, esp. so as to break to pieces: He dashed the plate into smithereens against the wall.2. to throw or thrust violently or suddenly: to dash one stone against another.3. to splash, often violently; bespatter (with water, mud, etc.): He recovered consciousness when they dashed water in his face.4. to apply roughly, as by splashing: to dash paint here and there on the wall.5. to mix or adulterate by adding another substance: to dash wine with water.6. to ruin or frustrate (hopes, plans, etc.): The rain dashed our hopes for a picnic.7. to depress; dispirit: The failure dashed his spirits.8. to confound or abash: His rejection dashed and humiliated him.

—v.i.1. to strike with violence: The waves dashed against the cliff.2. to move with violence; rush: The horses dashed out of the burning stable.3. dash off,a. to hurry away; leave: I must dash off now.b. Also,dash down.to write, make, accomplish, etc., hastily: We dashed off a letter to announce the news. He dashed down a memo.

—n.1. a small quantity of anything thrown into or mixed with something else: a dash of salt.2. a hasty or sudden movement; a rush or sudden onset: They all made a dash for the door.3. the mark or sign (—) used to note an abrupt break or pause in a sentence or hesitation in an utterance, to begin and end a parenthetic word, phrase, or clause, to indicate the omission of letters or words, to divide a line, to substitute for certain uses of the colon, and to separate any of various elements of a sentence or series of sentences, as a question from its answer.
4. the throwing or splashing of liquid against something: the dash of the waves against the dock.5. the sound of such splashing: The dash of the waves on the beach could be heard from afar.6. spirited action; élan; vigor in action or style: The dancer performed with spirit and dash.7. Track.a short race: a 100-yard dash.8. dashboard (def. 1).
9. Telegraphy.a signal of longer duration than a dot, used in groups of dots, dashes, and spaces to represent letters, as in Morse code.
10. a hasty stroke, esp. of a pen.
11. Archaic.a violent and rapid blow or stroke.
12. cut a dash, to make a striking impression; be ostentatious or showy.